Parent information on how to report an absence and access our school policy and systems.

Here at Waseley Hills, we strive for outstanding attendance for all our students to ensure they achieve their very best. Poor school attendance can impact upon your child’s academic, social, and emotional development. We are working hard to ensure that the levels of attendance remain high and do not impact your children’s progress at school.

However, we appreciate there will be times when absence is unavoidable and acceptable. This letter explains the approach we are following to support excellent attendance. Pupils must attend school as often as possible to take full advantage of learning opportunities.

• We know from research that even the slightest drop in attendance can impact the outcomes of pupils at GCSE.
• Pupils need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education.
• Missing out on lessons leaves children vulnerable to falling behind.
• Children with poor attendance tend to achieve less in both primary and secondary school.

The table below demonstrates how much impact having time off school has on pupil outcomes/grades in year 11. If your child does not miss more than 6 days of school, they are more likely to have positive progress, higher attainment, and a higher number of GCSE Grades that are above 4. This will significantly impact their life chances.

 

Whole School Attendance Over 5 Years
Attendance	Progress 8	Attainment 8	Average number of GCSE Grades 4 and above	% of English and Maths GCSE at Grade 4 and above
No more than 6 days off school (96%)	0.22	5.14	6.31	81%
No more than 18 days off school (90%)	-0.09	4.41	5.46	71%
No more than 27 days off school (85%)	-0.23	3.93	6.00	50%
37 or more days off school (80% or lower)	-2.13	1.96	2.13	25%

 

Positive progress means students are achieving more than their expected grade

Negative progress means students are achieving less than their expected grade

 

 

All students should aim to have no more than 6 days off school (96%) throughout the school year. An attendance percentage of 90% or more may seem high (we would celebrate this in an exam) but this is 19 days off school, nearly 4 weeks across a full year, equating to 95 hours of lost learning. This is why attendance impacts on pupil progress.

The below table outlines the attendance percentage that you, as a parent, can track on Arbor and features on your child’s progress reports and how this translates into the number of days absent and the learning hours lost:

 

Attendance Percentage %	Days Absent	Learning Hours Lost
100%	0	0
99%	2	10
98%	4	20
97%	5	25
96%	6	30
95%	9	45
94%	11	55
93%	13	65
92%	15	75
91%	17	85
90%	19	95
89%	21	105
88%	23	115
87%	25	125
86%	27	135
85%	29	145

 

What is considered as poor attendance and what can you expect from us?

As you can see in the above table if a child misses more than 6 school days throughout the school year (96%) this starts to become a concern and will start to negatively impact on their progress at school. We are adopting a waved approach to attendance monitoring and you can expect regular communications regarding your child’s attendance to support them to achieve their very best.

This is outlined in the table below for you:

 

 

Wave	Actions
Top Tier: No more than 6 days absent throughout the school year (100% - 96%):	Attendance is good and positive communications will be sent home to students and parents. We will continue our 100 Club where students who achieve 100% attendance in each term will be rewarded with house points, that can be spent in our rewards shop, a certificate, and other prizes.
Wave 1: Between 9 and 17 days absent throughout the school year (95% - 91%)	Attendance is starting to become a concern; parents will receive written communication regarding their child’s attendance to school and increased monitoring will begin. If students within this wave improve their attendance this improvement will also be recognised and rewarded.
Wave 2: Between 18 and 22 days absent throughout the school year (90% - 89%)	Attendance is now a continuing concern; parents will receive further written communication around the expected improvements in their child’s attendance. If students within this wave improve their attendance this improvement will also be recognised and rewarded.
Wave 3: 23 or more days absent throughout the school year (88% and below)	Attendance is now very concerning; parents will receive written communication around possible referral to the Local Authority and will be invited into school to meet with their child’s pastoral team to discuss barriers to positive attendance. If students within this wave improve their attendance this improvement will also be recognised and rewarded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our duty of care in responding to unauthorised and persistent absence:

We have a legal duty of care, shared with the Local Authority, to challenge poor attendance. Where attendance levels are low and where there are invalid reasons for a pupil’s frequent absence or where parents condone absence (e.g. by taking children out of school on unauthorised holidays) a fast track prosecution could commence.

 

Medical/Dental Appointments

Where possible these need to be arranged outside school hours, but we know this is not always possible. Where children need to attend such appointments during the school day it is important that the child attends before and returns to school after the appointment. Where the child is absent through illness or medical appointments this will normally be counted as an authorised absence. Where we have concerns over excessive absence patterns through illness, we will need to discuss this with parents to gain a better understanding of the problems and to offer support – for example by involving the School Health Service.

 

Holidays

It is not our policy to authorise holidays in term time. Where authorisation is not granted then subsequent term time holiday absence may be reported as a matter of concern to the Local Authority; we are under a duty to do this.

 

Close of Registers

Students are expected on site for the start of the school day at 8.50am. Any child arriving after this will incur a late mark and if they are significantly late will incur an unauthorised absence for the morning session. Please ensure your child is in school by 8:50am ready to start the school day.